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Cramer: Red hot stocks that protect your portfolio

Cramer's hand-picked safe-haven stocks
VIDEO10:5710:57
Cramer's hand-picked safe-haven stocks

While the averages ended in the green on Thursday, Jim Cramer took a broad focus if the market from a long-term perspective and wants investors to be prepared for a downturn. Just as the plunged nearly 10 percent last fall over fears of Ebola and a plummet in oil prices, it is starting to happen, again.

With the S&P 500 down more than 4 percent from its all-time high in late May as of Wednesday's close, drama in Greece and China and calls for Fed rate hikes are all contributing to an uncertain start to earnings season.

"Whenever we see one of these market-wide selloffs, I'm always on the lookout for high-quality companies that can still power higher," the "Mad Money" host said.

This is why Cramer has handpicked a selection of 15 safe-haven stocks to recommend to investors. These are all large- to mid-cap stocks that have managed to hit new 52-week highs despite the broader decline of the averages.

When Cramer looked at the 52-week high list, the first group he found was exceedingly well-run companies that have managed to deliver, even with difficult expectations.





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First up was Disney, which has been a long-time Cramer fave. He expects it to benefit from the recent decline in oil and recommended buying this one on weakness.

Next was Nike, which continues to crush it as management invests in top-notch technology. However, Cramer worries that fears of sales in China could weigh on the stock, so he suggested taking that into consideration, though he is confident it won't take much of a hit.

The next group was a play on autos. The average car was 11.4 years old in 2014. That means people are keeping their cars longer, which is good news for auto part retailers.

This is evidenced in the strength of Advance Auto Parts, O'Reilly Automotive and Snap-On. Cramer would even consider Snap-On to be a stealth technology play, because of its cutting edge technology in tools.

Next up is a play on housing, thanks to the boom in new-home construction and home-improvement spending. Cramer has his eye on Mohawk Industries and Stanley Black & Decker, though Stanley is the stand-out star of the group for a great buy on weakness.

And now that oil has plunged to $52 from $60, Cramer urged investors to consider the refiners that make money from the difference between the price of oil and the price of gasoline. He suggested Marathon Petroleum, which is the nation's fourth largest refiner.

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Cramer also saw company specific stories that were screaming to be bought. Comcast has the steadiest profitable growth cash flow that Cramer has seen anywhere, while Electronic Arts and Eli Lilly crushed the 52-week high list as well. [Disclosure: Comcast is the owner of NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC and CNBC.com.]

A few other food companies on Cramer's radar are General Mills and his faves Kraft-Heinz and Mondelez.

Finally, there is Ulta Salon which has crept up as an emerging powerhouse in the cosmetics space.

"I think all 15 of these names will remain safe-havens and buying opportunities into any weakness, and if there is one thing I know, it's that this market is guaranteed to give you some improvised explosive devices on an almost daily basis," Cramer said.

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